Roy Harris' West Point Symphony for Band (1952)

Roy Harris (1898-1979) was one of the leading American composers of the early and mid-twentieth centuries. Audiences were polarized in their appreciation of him and his music. Some adored it and labeled it truly American while others were critical. However, both groups respected his talent as a unique voice within American music. He was known for his style which included long-meandering phrases and atypical diatonic harmonic progressions. His compositions were commissioned and championed by the likes of Sergei Koussevitsky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, William Revelli and the University of Michigan Band as well as others. Over the course of his compositional career, he wrote no less than 21 original works for wind band, most of which are seldom performed. In 1952, the command staff of the West Point Band commissioned a series of original band works for the Sesquicentennial Celebration of the United States Military Academy at West Point. Roy Harris's West Point Symphony for Band was a product of this series. However, for many reasons, this piece has lived in relative obscurity having never been published or regularly performed. The purpose of this dissertation is to create a new, working and critical edition of this piece with the goal of creating more performances of a masterwork by this truly American composer.